Today’s Question by the reader : Andreas

Why did you write a book in which the main character is a serial killer?

The main theme of the book is manipulation of dreams, which is, in my eyes at least, one of the most vile forms of violence.
Therefore the very decor of the Festival is quite aggressive and Igor’s presence only magnifies this.
But to be honest, this is type of answer that I can only give once I wrote the book. The moment I was in the story, this seemed to me to be the natural way of telling this specific tale.
Some choices are made and only afterwords can we actually understand them.

Comments

So true! This is why I tend to cast a suspicious glance toward certain forms of literary criticism, academic “specialists” who write lengthy treatises on what a particular author meant by this or that metaphor or motif. Although the connections they suggest and the connotations they offer may make perfect sense, this does not necessarily reflect what the author intended to convey. In fact, the author may not have “intended” anything in a conscious sense – it was primarily the work of the intuition, the subconscious impulse toward making reason and creating subtle links.

When one is in the process of creation it is often difficult, if not impossible, to see how all the components connect, how one thing enhances the other, or how subtle connotations serve to create a complex web of larger meaning. It is only in retrospect, when we switch over from the creative mode to logical analysis – when we look back at the piece with the eyes of reason – that we are able to see for ourselves the greater import of of the work and how all of the pieces fit together to form a cohesive whole.

Even then, at least in my personal experience, I don’t see everything. It often requires another set of eyes, or many sets of eyes – someone else reads what I have written and points out to me some subtle connection. Then I say, “Oh, yes, that makes perfect sense,” but I never consciously “intended” it when I was writing. In fact, I was virtually oblivious on a conscious level – I was just following my intuition.

When I think of the process of artistic creation, I think of the creation of the universe. The more we understand of science, the more we realize just how amazingly complex the universe truly is, and, furthermore, how every minuscule particle has its part to play, how everything fits and works together. This, for many of us, makes it increasingly difficult to accept the idea of a conscious Creator who is capable of rendering such a complex and seamlessly integrated work. How could any brain be that large, capable of processing and storing that much information? But maybe this Creator didn’t create the universe using logic and reason; perhaps intuition was the driving force. It is like when we look at a finished novel – the whole thing makes perfect “sense.” We can logically analyze it and it conforms to reason, but the process of creation was not due to the rational function of the conscious intellect – it took place primarily on a subconscious, purely intuitive level.

Thank you, Paulo, for sharing with us your views on your books and on writing in general. It is always refreshing and inspiring to read what you have to say.